With the introduction of wheel mounted electrical motors, it is now possible to provide to consumers a way to convert their conventional automotive vehicles powered by internal combustion engines into electric vehicles. The following are companies that make or use wheel mounted electrical motors: PML Flightlink <http://www.pmlflightlink.com/> a UK based company that currently designs and builds the highest power density electric wheel motors in the world (Currently working with Volvo on the ReCharge, a vehicle released at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show that uses 4 of PML's in-wheel motors.), E-traction <http://www.e-traction.com/> a Dutch-American company that has several wheel motors in production, the manufacturer of the Whisper, a serial hybrid bus with wheel hub motors. Tech-m4 <http://www.tm4.com/eng/tm4transport/moto wheelmotor/> a subsidiary of Hydro-Quebec <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydro-Qu%C3% A9bec> a Canadian utility company <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public utility> that develops and produces wheel motors for automobiles.
This background discussion is not intended to be an admission of prior art.